Hard Materials Seminar - "Developing a High-Throughput Test Method for Corrosion in Bio-Feedstocks"

Bio-based feedstocks and fuels are strong candidates for replacing petroleum, but the corrosion resistance of metals in bio-feedstocks is not well understood, which slows the adoption of biofuels. These bio-feedstocks contain more oxygen than petroleum and often have more complex bio-molecules and compositions. This oxygen content results in a higher corrosivity, and this complexity results in a larger variable space to test. Traditional corrosion immersion tests and electrochemical methods are difficult to use at the high temperatures and pressures present in refineries. They also do not scale well to test a large array of bio-feedstock solutions or constituents. In this talk, we will present a new high-throughput immersion method using custom reaction vessels. We will discuss our factorial experiments testing some of the key vessel design parameters and the method’s repeatability. By controlling these parameters, we aim to refine this test method and begin studying the mechanism of corrosion by bio-feedstocks.